Subject Seventeen

MAN’S RELIGION AND GOD’S SAVING WAY

Scripture: Gen. 4
It is not easy to give a clear picture of salvation by using the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 as a gospel subject, because the main points are usually missed. However, if you use “Man’s Religion and God’s Saving Way” as the subject for this portion, it will be easy for you to speak, because the story of Cain speaks of man’s religion, and that of Abel speaks of God’s saving way.
This subject is divided into two sections. It is better to give it in two meetings.

1. Man’s religion
   1. The origin of man’s religion is that it was invented by man’s concept in his presumptions about God.
      1. Any human religion is invented by man.
         You should talk about the origin of each so-called religion.
      2. Man is made by God. Because man has a spirit within him, there is always within man an inclination toward worshipping God. So there is a concept of God within all men.
      3. Man has invented ways to worship God based upon this concept of God within himself, and this invention is called religion.
   2. The meaning of man’s religion is that it is a teaching according to something or someone that is worshipped. On one hand, you teach yourself, and on the other hand, you teach others how to worship God and behave as a man.
      1. Worship. There is always an object of worship, either a god, a person, or some thing. Among the five main religions, two worship God (Christianity and Islam), and three worship a person: Confucianism worships Confucius, Buddhism worships Siddhartha Gautama, and Taoism worships Lao-tzu.
      2. Teaching. This is to teach others, according to what you worship, how to worship God and behave as a man.
   3. The central point and main emphasis of man’s religion is to cultivate moral conduct by human effort.
      1. The central point of any religion is to cultivate moral conduct by human effort. In this respect Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Islam are all very similar. Even today’s Christianity as it is generally understood is no different.
      2. Man’s religion has the hope of achieving a good result by means of human effort. All religions hold out the hope of somehow earning a future reward based on the merits of good works. The hope of all who practice cultivating moral conduct is to achieve some kind of immortality. For example, for a Buddhist, this would mean to become a Buddha.
   4. Within man’s religion is a hidden motivation which is a part of the Devil’s scheme to damage God’s plan.
      1. The central point of all religions is to cultivate moral conduct by human effort and to exhort others to do good. But God does not care for this. Many think that the central point of Christianity also is to exhort others to do good, but people must know that to do good is not God’s saving way.
      2. The central point of all religions is the confusion of Satan to cover up God’s saving way.
      3. All who pay attention to the central point of any religion are cheated by Satan and are damaged in relation to God’s plan.
         These three points fully expose the hidden motivation of religion. Such a presentation is attractive as well as persuasive, opening up an understanding of God’s salvation.
   5. The destiny of those in man’s religion is that they are not accepted by God, and they are fallen into sinfulness and destruction.
      1. All those who rely on the central point of religion to please God are not accepted by God. We may use Cain as an example.
      2. All those who rely on the central point of religion cannot have fellowship with God; instead, they are farther away from God.
      3. The result is to become more and more sinful, and the end is destruction.
         These three points should be based upon the story of Cain. His offering of the produce of the field to God is to cultivate moral conduct by human effort, and the result was threefold: he was not accepted by God, he was farther away from God, and later he committed murder and sins.
2. God’s saving way
   1. The origin of God’s saving way is by God’s revelation.
      1. Human religion was man’s invention, but God’s saving way came by God’s revelation. You should repeat this until people see that religion is man’s invention, but the saving way is by God’s revelation. Such a revelation is something never thought of by man. Whatever man can think of is totally a matter of religion.
      2. Explain that what Abel did was not a matter of religion but something by God’s revelation. You should make it clear that Cain’s method or way of worshipping God came out of his own presumptions; thus it was his own invention, so that what he did was religion. What Abel did was not of his own guesswork or invention but of God’s revelation, which he had learned through his parents, Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve sinned, God killed an animal, and He clothed them with the skin of the animal. Adam and Eve must have told Abel about this. Hebrews 11 says that Abel offered up sacrifices by faith, and Romans 10 says that faith is by hearing. It can be seen that Abel’s faith came by hearing from his parents, and therefore what Abel did came out of revelation.
      3. The origin of religion requires no faith, but the origin of the saving way requires faith. Because religion was invented by man, you only need to guess a little. Only God’s saving way is God’s revelation; therefore it requires faith. Guessing will never work.
   2. The meaning of God’s saving way is to serve God based upon God’s salvation. The meaning of religion is to belong to a sect and be taught accordingly, but the meaning of the saving way is to serve God based upon God’s salvation.
      1. In the saving way, there is the experience of God’s salvation.
      2. God’s salvation is to cause us to serve Him. We serve Him not by a teaching, but by the salvation we experience. God’s salvation is to save us to such an extent that we can serve Him.
   3. The central point of God’s saving way is the redemption of Christ and His salvation.
      1. Redemption. Explain how man has committed sins and how the problem of sins must be resolved. The problem of sins cannot be dealt with no matter how much man tries to cultivate moral conduct and to do good. Only by the death of Christ and His shed blood can man’s sins be dealt with.
      2. Salvation. Christ is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). Once we believe in Him, His Spirit and His life will enter into us to be our power and our salvation.
      3. Compare the central points of religion and of the saving way. The central point of religion is to cultivate moral conduct and to do good, which cannot (1) resolve the problem of the sins committed in the past; (2) and much less save man from sin and enable him to overcome sin. In contrast, the central point of the saving way is Christ’s redemption and salvation, by which (1) the problem of our past sins can be resolved through redemption; and (2) we are enabled to overcome sin and to be free from sins through salvation.
   4. The hidden meaning of God’s saving way is the fulfillment of His plan.
      God’s saving way implies the fulfillment of God’s plan.
      1. God has His strategy and arrangement, and these make up His plan.
      2. God’s plan is to work Himself into man.
      3. The way God works Himself into man is by His life.
      4. To receive God’s saving way—to believe in Christ— is to receive God’s life into us.
   5. The destiny of those who receive God’s saving way is to be accepted by God and delivered from sin and death.
      1. The redemption of Christ is by the blood of Christ; the salvation of Christ is by the life of Christ. We can be accepted by God only by having the blood and the life of Christ. Abel was accepted by God not by his own merit, but by the animal that was slain. That animal typifies Christ.
      2. Being accepted by God enables us to have fellowship with God.
      3. God’s saving way delivers us from sin and death. Abel suffered persecution; yet he did not sin. He was killed; yet he did not perish.